Installing server certificate

After following one of the HowTos above you now have have a server certificate in your certificate store.
In order to use this certificate for your Apache server the following SSL Module config parameters need to be set:

## Server Certificate:
# Point SSLCertificateFile at a PEM encoded certificate. If the certificate
# is encrypted, then you will be prompted for a pass phrase. Note that a
# kill -HUP will prompt again. Keep in mind that if you have both an RSA
# and a DSA certificate you can configure both in parallel (to also allow
# the use of DSA ciphers, etc.)
SSLCertificateFile <path to pem encoded certificate file>
## Server Private Key:
# If the key is not combined with the certificate, use this directive to
# point at the key file. Keep in mind that if you've both a RSA and a DSA
# private key you can configure both in parallel (to also allow the use of
# DSA ciphers, etc.)
SSLCertificateKeyFile <path to pem encoded key file>
## Server Certificate Chain:
# Point SSLCertificateChainFile at a file containing the concatenation of
# PEM encoded CA certificates which form the certificate chain for the
# server certificate. Alternatively the referenced file can be the same as
# SSLCertificateFile when the CA certificates are directly appended to the
# server certificate for convinience.
SSLCertificateChainFile <path to pem encoded server chain file>

To create the SSLCertificateFile file perform an export on the server certificate with the following settings:

To create the SSLCertificateKeyFile file perform an export on the server certificate with the following settings:

Take special care of this file as it is now no longer encrypted. It has to copied to it’s target location in a secure manner (e.g. via ssh) and has to be protected by restrictive access rights (e.g. via chmod 0600). You may choose to encrypt the exported file. But as a result Apache will ask for the password on every restart/reload.

To create the SSLCertificateChainFile file perform an export on the server certificate’s issuer certificate with the following settings:

If you have an official root certificate (e.g. because you use an external CA) I suggest to omit the root certificate export.

Now copy the created files to your server and adapt the Apache config parameters listed above according to your environment. After a restart the Apache server should now use the new certificate.

For a first test point your browser at your server and check the security information.

If your server is available on the internet I strongly advice to verify your setup by running Qualys SSL Server Test https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/ against your server.

Enabling client authentication

If you want to use client certificates to restrict access to your Apache server the following SSL Module config parameters need to be set also:

## Certificate Authority (CA):
# Set the CA certificate verification path where to find CA certificates
# for client authentication or alternatively one huge file containing all
# of them (file must be PEM encoded).
# Note: Inside SSLCACertificatePath you need hash symlinks to point to the
# certificate files. Use the provided Makefile to update the hash symlinks
# after changes.
#SSLCACertificatePath /etc/ssl/apache2/ssl.crt
SSLCACertificateFile <path to pem encoded client chain file>
## Certificate Revocation Lists (CRL):
# Set the CA revocation path where to find CA CRLs for client authentication
# or alternatively one huge file containing all of them (file must be PEM
# encoded).
# Note: Inside SSLCARevocationPath you need hash symlinks to point to the
# certificate files. Use the provided Makefile to update the hash symlinks
# after changes.
#SSLCARevocationPath /etc/ssl/apache2/ssl.crl
SSLCARevocationFile <path to pem encoded crl file>
## Client Authentication (Type):
# Client certificate verification type and depth. Types are none, optional,
# require and optional_no_ca. Depth is a number which specifies how deeply
# to verify the certificate issuer chain before deciding the certificate is
# not valid.
SSLVerifyClient require
SSLVerifyDepth 2

To create the SSLCACertificateFile file perform an export on the user certificate’s issuer certificate with the following settings:

As for the server chain above, if you have an official root certificate (e.g. because you use an external CA) I suggest to omit the root certificate export.

To create the SSLCARevocationFile file perform an export on the user certificate’s issuer certificate with the following settings:

Please note that the CRL export is only possible after you have performed a first update of your CA’s CRL (see the initially mentioned CA HowTos for further details).

Setting the parameter SSLVerifyClient to require enables client certificate verification. The value of SSLVerifyDepth defines the maximum allowed length of the issuer chain. The value 2 enables the use of one intermediate certificate.

Now copy the created files to your server and adapt the Apache config parameters listed above according to your environment. After a restart the Apache server should now ask for a client certificate.

To test the setup you have to import the client certificate into your OS’ or browser’s certificate store. Both of them will most likely accept a PKCS#12 file created as follows:

Pointing your browser at your server now should bring up some kind of certificate selection dialog listing the imported client certificate as one option.